COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA: Alex Murdaugh who was sentenced for the murders of his son and wife, has been writing letters from prison denying his role in the crime despite the jury's double conviction. One of Murdaugh's friends named Chuck Arnold, who has received one of his letters, told that the disgraced attorney has admitted to financial wrongdoings but claims that he is innocent and has no role in the killings of his wife Maggie Murdaugh and their 22-year-old son Paul in 2021.
Murdaugh is presently serving two life sentences after a jury found him guilty of his horrific crimes. However, an appeal against the conviction has been filed by his lawyers. The 63-year-old has also been charged with 99 counts of financial crimes relating to allegedly defrauding his law firm and its clients of $8.8 million.
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What did Chuck Arnold say?
"He is a broken man," Arnold told The Messenger. "He's trying to make amends for the financial crimes he admits that he committed, but he insists he did not kill Maggie and Paul," added Arnold. One less sympathetic unnamed partner at Murdaugh's former firm told the outlet that Murdaugh "caused us all untold distress."
"He stole money from our clients, and he stole money from the firm," the former colleague added. "This is a family law firm, and he took money from people who loved him and who he professed to love. It's a betrayal that I don't think I can ever get over," he added.
The Murdaugh family
The murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh shocked the whole state of South Carolina since the Murdaughs were a well-known legal and political dynasty. For 85 years, many Murdaugh family members worked as district solicitors and solicitors in the Low Country.
Murdaugh's great-grandfather Randolph Murdaugh Sr was an elected solicitor who died under suspicious circumstances when his car stopped on railway tracks and was hit by a train in 1940. Alex Murdaugh's grandfather and Randolph's son then became the new solicitor. His son, Randolph Murdaugh III who was also the father of Alex Murdaugh succeeded in the position from 1987 to 2005.
The Murdaugh scandals
The Murdaugh scandals soon came to light as the probe complied several scandals which include the death of teenager Stephen Smith in 2015, the death of the Murdaugh's housekeeper Gloria Satterfield in 2018, and the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach in a boating accident in 2019.
Smith was found lifeless by the side of the road and his death was recorded as a hit-and-run accident. Smith's mother claimed that he was murdered in a homophobic hate crime and as per the case notes, he was in a relationship with Alex's son, Buster. Buster was named several times in the investigation, revealed the papers, and years later one of Smith's friends said the Murdaughs had 'covered' up the crime.
In 2018, another death occurred when the family's housekeeper Gloria Satterfield stumbled down the stairs on the family's property. Murdaugh and Satterfield's family reached a financial settlement for wrongful death. The Murdaugh family was hit with another tragedy the next year when Murdaugh's younger son Paul crashed a boat he had been driving while intoxicated and his friend Mallory Beach was killed at just 19 years old.
In June 2021, Paul and Maggie were shot dead on the family's farm. It was later discovered that Paul didn't notify 911 about their deaths for almost an hour, and another party asserted that the killings were retaliation for Paul's role in Mallory Beach's death.
